CLOSE on 5,000 prime sheep were sold on another busy Monday at Skipton Auction Mart, among them the largest show of lambs to date this season – 3,580 head, along with a record entry of 1,272 cull sheep.

Prime lambs sold away to an overall average very similar on the week of £80.35 per head or 188.06p/kg.

This was deemed a good result bearing in mind the more mixed quality entry forward, which comprised fewer very smart lambs and more first cross types.

Heavy lambs were in strong demand, with a good number of pens making nicely over £100 per head, and rougher sorts trading in the mid to late £90s.

A joint top per head price of £115 fell to 49kg and 46kg Beltex pens from two local families, the Hewetsons in Banknewton and the Scrivens, from Elslack, the former selling to Kendalls Farm Butchers, of Harrogate and Pateley Bridge, the latter to Felliscliffe’s Andrew Atkinson.

The Scriven pen also made top price per kilo at 250.0p.

Better Beltex lambs sold at 230-245p/kg, with plenty of nicely bred Suffolk or Continental lambs selling either side of £2 per kilo, while a more commercial lamb weighing in around the mid-40kg mark was 188p to 195p, and a handier weighted commercial lamb 180-190p/kg.

Some useful Mule wethers were again on offer, the best end making either side of £80, or 175-185p/kg, up to a high of £89 each for a pen from Pateley Bridge’s Bernard Simpson. Swaledale wether lambs direct from the fell generally made 150-165p/kg, topping at 168p and £64 per head for offerings from John and Claire Mason, of Embsay.

The record mart entry of farmers’ cull sheep saw meat greatly in demand for the Islamic festival, Qurbani, with cull ewes carrying flesh extremely good to sell and plenty of opportunities for buyers of feeding ewes, which are now coming forward in plentiful supply.

The best Suffolks and Texels sold well into three figures and to a high of £130 for a pen of the latter from Hellifield’s William Watson, with an average if £71.50 per head.

The best Mules made £73 to £83 each.

A high percentage of lean ewes penned for sale included more than the usual handful of horned ewes, the best of these trading into the £50s, but also including several runs of very lean ewes straight from the fell. The overall cull ewe average was £49.89, which did not really give a true representation of the very good trade on the day. Cast rams averaged £56.89.

This followed on from Skipton’s Wednesday sale two weeks ago, when there was a much larger turnout of 4,818 store lambs and breeding sheep as the grazing situation brought more lambs onto the market to sell. Stronger lambs were a nice trade, with feeders keen as prime sheep trade held firm.